Not just Yang Hansen! Why do Chinese players struggle with rebounds after joining the NBA? Let's discuss the reasons.

Last night, I was chatting with a friend about this topic:“Why do Chinese players perform poorly in rebounding after entering the NBA?”

From Yang Hansen’s performance in these few games, rebounding is clearly a big problem.

Expecting him to fight for a rebound is really difficult.

Everyone needs to understand the concept: contesting a rebound is not the same as just picking it up.

The NBA officially distinguishes these two; their official stats track “contested rebounds” and “uncontested rebounds.”

How is this defined? If there’s someone within 1.05 meters around you when you grab the rebound, it counts as contested; otherwise, it’s uncontested.

This mainly helps analyze the difficulty and efficiency of rebounding, and which is harder is obvious.

Yang Hansen now almost never secures contested rebounds.

By comparison, Klingen, although flawed—like having a rough finishing touch—you’ll notice his rebounding is reliable.

His positioning and constant readiness with his hands up...

If you’re an old fan, you’ll know this isn’t only Yang Hansen’s problem. Da Yao, as an All-Star, averaged 9.2 rebounds throughout his NBA career, with only the 05-06 (10.2) and 07-08 (10.8) seasons averaging double-digit rebounds.

Considering his height and team status, his rebounding ability is not outstanding.

If you follow Chinese men’s basketball and various international competitions at all levels, you’ll notice:

Our players have struggled with rebounding since youth.

For example, in this year's U19 World Cup, players like Zhu Zheng and Zhang Boyuan’s team allowed opponents to grab 22.7 offensive rebounds per game, while they themselves grabbed fewer than 10 offensive rebounds per game.

Both these stats rank last.

Our U16/U17 teams also have poor rebounding, a clear inherited issue.

So, we can discuss the reasons behind this.

Looking at NBA games, we must admit there is a gap inphysical abilities, especially dynamic athleticism.

At their pace, explosive speed, repeated jumping ability, and core strength are extremely important.

A true story: Chen Guohao’s explosive speed and repeated jumping are already good among Chinese players.

Until one day, he played in an NBA preseason game and met the Clippers’ Collins... that was seeing a different world.

“I was completely unaware of that kind of strength.”

I felt the same last season at Shenzhen’s home game, watching Shanxi’s Diallo...

This is a difference in talent, no need to elaborate.

Where do many Chinese players fall short in rebounding?

I think it starts with the basketball education they receive from a young age being flawed.

Is it only about height to get rebounds?

In the 2019 World Cup, how we were dominated by shorter Venezuela...

Why emphasize the difference between “contesting” and “picking” rebounds at the start?

You’ll find many CBA big men, like Yang Hansen in Qingdao, can get rebounds just by “picking” due to their height and physique.

He doesn’t need to fight hard for position, jump aggressively, or have excellent anticipation—just grabbing by height is enough.

Then in the NBA, facing muscular players...

Some players get position but don’t jump or can’t jump high.

Another point: is rebounding only the center’s job?

If that were true, even if China had a prime Rodman, the big man would still shake his head...

Relying only on centers to rebound while guards stand idly by, not boxing out their defenders, letting them crash the boards—team rebounding will be poor.

So don’t just blame differences in explosive speed and strength.

Team rebounding awareness should be developed during youth training.

Perhaps, I mean perhaps, the cultural education we receive from childhood also plays a role.

Rebounding requires not “yielding like Kong Rong,” but “snatching fiercely.”

It’s a culture of fighting for every inch.

Look at how aggressive Draymond Green is...

One last question: who does Di Ge think has the best rebounding habits among Chinese players?

I’ll name someone everyone knows:Li Xiaoxu.

Once called the domestic “Beast,” his rebounding instincts, awareness to fight for offensive boards, and aggressiveness were outstanding.

Was he very tall? He had several major injuries...

But his rebounding experience and skills are enough for young domestic players to learn from for a long time.